Hound of the Schnees
by Zomuro
Summary: Disillusioned by the atrocities of the new White Fang, Skoll, the right-hand Faunus of Adam, fears becoming a monster like his brethren. But only when he meets the princess of snow can he finally break free and swear loyalty to his enemy. OC x Weiss.
1. Prologue: White Wolf's Prey

_A new OC story! This is OC x Weiss! Written by_ _O.S. Worldmakers_ _and_ _Keeper Of The One Winged Angel_ _!_

 _The OC is owned by_ _Keeper Of the One Winged Angel_ _! I,_ _O.S. Worldmakers_ _, am merely his scribe._

 _We're ready for the hate! Or the love!_

 _Take a look at the notes, too~_

* * *

 **Prologue: White Wolf's Prey**

* * *

He tolerated his leader for years. He tolerated his leader's ambitions for a "better world", a world where Faunus could be finally free. He tolerated his leader's increasing insanity and extremity.

He had lived with Adam's wants for years. And now, he had to live with him for another day.

"We need to make a statement that we deserve our rights!" Adam shouted. "One to show the world we are equals!"

Cheers erupted from the home base of the White Fang. Located in Mistral, it was well hidden underground. From it, the White Fang could lash out at all four kingdoms by taking Atlas vehicle shipments.

(If I said where, it'd ruin all the fun.)

"We are the White Fang! We fight for justice! We fight for equality! We fight our oppressors! Who are they?"

"HUMANS!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?"

"OUR LIVES!"

 _And the enslavement of humanity, systematic destruction of civilization, blah blah blah. Adam..._

 _You've changed. What happened?_

He continued listening. As a high-level White Fang leader, he had the play the part of a Faunus. A Faunus that hated humanity to the bone.

In reality, he really didn't care. Faunus and humans were practically the same. The differences were completely arbitrary, and since Faunus and humans could reproduce with each other and have viable offspring, biologically they were the same species.

He was sick of what Adam promised. He already knew what Adam's words meant.

 _A revolution to overthrow humanity and make them the slaves of the Faunus. A revolution to pay back all the abuse the Faunus endured tenfold._

 _Doesn't he realize that's not what we're looking for? If civilization is gone, where will we live? All we know is how to destroy, lie, and sabotage whatever humanity makes._

 _We can't create. If Adam wins, we're going to enter a literal and figurative dark age._

"We'll undertake the biggest operation yet!" Adam shouted. "We will strike a hard blow against the Schnee Dust Company!"

Roars of approval shook the underground complex.

 _... This isn't good. This might be the final push before everything goes to s***._

"...For years, the SDC has conscripted our people. It has made them work like slaves, and demeaned them! It has forcibly made them into beasts! I ask you, are we going to let this continue!?" Adam continued.

"No!"

"I can't hear you!"

 _I don't want to hear you._

"NO!"

"Then we will begin! All of those who I call out, you will be on this mission!"

He ignored Adam for now. _I'll be chosen again to kill or torture a Schnee, huh?_

"... And finally, the **Beta Tiger** Skoll!"

 _There goes my name. Dammit, Adam. I was going to minimize fallout, and then you drop another bomb. No wonder the SDC hates us._

 _See, this is why I want to leave. Extremism doesn't bring change worth fingerbones._

"Let the chosen follow me. We'll need to discuss the operation."

* * *

They were deeper inside the secret weapons factory. It was abandoned years ago by the Atlas military.

"First of all, I'll have to remind you that this is a dangerous operation. The Schnees have guards, so this won't be easy."

 _No s***, Adam._ Skoll thought. _After how many time we've killed and kidnapped them, no kidding. Who's fault is that?_

"Skoll will lead this operation. This is high risk, after all. We're going after the f***ing heiress," Adam said.

Skoll's heart stopped. _Adam, we're screwed. Thanks a lot._

The White Fang leader sighed. "I'll brief you personally, in case we have traitors."

He opened up a stolen Scroll and pulled up the necessary info: location, factors, guards, and the target.

"As we are speaking right now, the heiress is returning from her trip to all four of humanity's huntress academies. **Haven. Atlas. Shade. Beacon.** Although she is being guarded by Atlas troops and Schnee Dust Company specialists, there's a chance to kidnap her."

"Chance, but no chances?" Skoll asked. "It's not an aerial operation, then, huh?"

"Right, Skoll. We'll be catching them at a landing site."

 _And it'll be in Atlas territory, right? It wouldn't be so dangerous if it were anywhere else._

"Let's go over the details, then. The more time we have, the better. After all, the Schnee's aren't exactly twiddling their thumbs while they're hunting us. Get in, get her, get out."

Adam nodded. "The plan is simple: an ambush. Since it's within their territory, where they have forces nearby, the guards should relax. Once that happens, we can capture the Schnee scum. And then we can execute her."

Skoll nodded, easily concealing his disgust for the plan. "In that case, it's preferable to sneak in some of our Bullheads onto the island. Atlas Bullheads have tracking devices; we don't want them on our trail," he said, almost biting his tongue. "But if not, we'll have to bring some hackers."

"Good point, Skoll..." the White Fang leader said. "Let's take a look at the guards."

He brought up stacks of data from a hacked military database before bringing up the holoscreen to show all the chosen. "Schnee is onboard a Cruiser, which is guarded by modified Bullheads," he said. "The Cruiser has laser weaponry and air-to-all missile capability, as well as loads of droids. Meanwhile, the 20 Bullheads provides suppressive fire with two miniguns attached to the sides, presumably for use by soldiers."

"In other words, an aerial battle is suicide," Skoll summarized. "The instant we take off, we'd be riddled with holes. That's precisely why we can only attack when they've landed: most of their combat capability disappears. What about their forces?"

"There are 200 Atlesian Knight-130s that can be activated at command, 100 Atlas soldiers, and 25 SDC specialists," Adam replied. "It's the specialists that are the issue."

Skoll nodded. Every White Fang member knew the SDC specialists as the SSS ("S***storm Schnee's Soldiers") because everything went to s*** when they were around. They were a group of highly trained Atlas special forces members that worked exclusively for the Schnee Dust Company, utilizing the Dust the company produced to lethal ends.

If Atlas wasn't able to suppress Faunus uprisings in Schnee mines, it was the SDC specialists that beat the used into submission again.

The reluctant leader's heart tightened as he remembered them. _They look professional and fight like it. But that only barely covers who they really are: monsters. They are the most ruthless, the most unredeemable, and perhaps the most racist._

 _25 with the heiress. 20 on the Bullheads, 5 on the cruiser. The best idea, then... sabotage the Bullheads. Kill them by blowing up the engine or sniping them. But the heiress has to be alive..._

 _Besides, why land so close to the border? That's asking for trouble. It definitely got Adam's attention. Which means..._

"I don't think we can do ground either, then," Skoll said. "Too risky. And personally, it's probably a trap."

All of the White Fang members present looked at Skoll with awe. This Faunus, the **Beta Tiger** Skoll, was truly a genius. He read Atlas like a book, easily and effortlessly. It was no wonder he was highly respected, even by their leader.

Adam nodded. "Explain."

"They are islands surrounding the landing spot, perfect for having more Bullheads. More Bullheads, more troops," Skoll said. "The heiress is also too important to Atlas's well-being. They practically rely on the Schnee Dust Company for trade. So they would have more than just 25 specialists. Given that they can't travel with an army without raising an uproar from the other kingdoms, I'd say they have at least 50 SSS."

At this point, the recruits and veterans were practically worshipping him. Leave it to the second king of the jungle to see through Atlas!

The leader of the White Fang nodded, sighing. "Then this complicates the mission. But we need to make sure this succeeds."

"No, it makes it a bit easier. After all, they don't have a backup."

Everyone stared at Skoll. After hearing about how strong the defense the heiress brought with her, they had lost hope.

Skoll sighed. "They have no long-ranged weaponry. They also have no naval defenses. Not to mention that Bullheads are ridiculously fragile when their engines are hit. Their setup is practically asking for the SSS to be sniped."

"But that only takes care of the guards," one of the White Fang recruits said. "How do we get onto the cruiser?"

The right hand man of Adam looked at her, then pointed at her. "First, you're promoted. Second, I'm glad you asked. Remember what I said?"

 _Good, she can take my job after I get out of this s***hole._

She stared back at him, smiling as her white fluffy dog ears perked up. "The Bullheads we have," she replied easily.

"Right. How would you think we'd not get shot down?"

"Hmm... Hack the Cruiser's systems and disable the automatic targeting as well as engine systems."

Skoll smiled. "Smart girl. Anything else we need to know?"

The female Faunus tilted her head. "... Not that I can see."

"There you go. Now, let's get this over. Adam, mind showing us the target?"

Images changed as the holoscreen displayed the final crucial piece of information. All of the Faunus held their breaths as they were introduced to the heiress.

"Damn, she's hot..." one Faunus said.

"I'd totally bang her. Shame we have to execute her." another said.

Skoll closed his eyes with a glance. _Snow white hair, with pale blue enchanting eyes like ice. Small bust size, like to wear elaborate clothing and a combat skirt. Weapon is a rapier, with Dust on the revolving bit. The beautiful princess of the North. What a sight._

 _The picture was probably taken at Beacon. I can recognize that clocktower anywhere. And-_

He opened his eyes suddenly. _Her. A specialist. Winter Schnee... Well, this is bad._

"Something wrong, Skoll-san?" the female dog Faunus asked.

"Just Skoll. And no," he replied. "Just thinking about logistics for a moment. By the way... your name?"

"E-Eh!?" she squealed cutely. "U-Um... Aire. Aire Dale."

He nodded. "Well, I should get going once Adam dismisses us."

"Which, by the way, already happened."

Aire, shocked, jolted her head to face Adam, who had his hands on his hips as if ready to discipline her. Meanwhile, Skoll was relaxed.

"S-Sir!" she squeaked.

"Just call me Adam," the White Fang leader replied. "You're dismissed. And so are you, in case you're wondering, Skoll."

"Aw, so considerate. Time for a long sleep," Skoll easily said. "Maybe I'll siesta tomorrow too."

He left, waving his right hand as he entered the sleeping quarters.

"So it's the mutt," a voice above him said.

Skoll smiled sarcastically. "Aw, it's the pussy cat. I'd marry you, but you're always running away."

"I'd kill myself before that'd happen."

"See, we can agree on something. Right, Blake?"

Elegantly, the cat Faunus landed on the floor of the quarters. Her golden eyes stared at the dog Faunus.

"What about the operation tomorrow?" Blake asked, her tone a bit more subdued.

He sighed. "Honestly, Adam's plan would've meant we'd be on a suicide mission. So I had to correct it. But still... isn't it weird?"

"Yeah... He's never been so... overt," she replied. "Killing lesser known Schnees is one thing. But gunning for the heiress... it's as if-"

"He wants a war. I know," Skoll said. "Still, not much I can do about it. Rather be tortured by the Schnees than disappoint Adam."

Blake turned on her heel and walked away, her steps slightly ringing out in the sleeping quarters.

The **Beta Tiger** Skoll slid into his own bed, groaning. _I need to leave the White Fang. Now._


	2. Alpha: White Wolf's Pack

_It's about time! SDC vs. White Fang!_

 _Should we call Adam's White Fang the Crimson Fang after this chapter? I feel it's more fitting, with the bloody mess that's going to go around. :|_

 _Let us know._

* * *

 **Alpha: White Wolf's Pack**

* * *

 _Atlas... it smells of Dust here. You'd think the air would be clean here, but no. They love Dust way too much._

 _No wonder the Schnee Dust Company is so rich. Now that I think about it, they almost have a monopoly on Dust... and nobody has decided to stop them._

 _Atlas is essentially the SDC. Yet another reason for Adam to target Weiss Schnee. A dead heiress is a dead human Atlas._

Skoll stood on the cramped motorboat as he stared upon the mass of airships above. 20 Bullheads, with anti-personnel weaponry and a Specialist each. 1 Atlesian Cruiser, armed with lasers, Atlesian Knight-130's, and five more SSSs.

And on that hell was Weiss Schnee... and Winter Schnee.

 _That one person could break this plan. I'll have to take care of her and kidnap Weiss at the same time. Hopefully, we've brought enough explosives._

He beckoned to Aire, who nervously handed him a crimson flag and looked away from his eyes. With practised movements, he unfurled the fabric and waved it clearly above his head. Bearing the symbol of the White Fang, he sent the first attack order: destroy the Bullheads.

 _The Bullheads are the primary defense. As long as those remain, the guards can kill us off. Not only that, but the Bullheads hold the majority of the Specialists. If we can take them out, we can at least delay the SSSs for... say half an hour?_

 _It's a tight plan, Adam. And as usual, it's the best one. Thanks for tying my hands behind my back._

 _Well, too late to b**** about it._

From the sea below the armada of the sky, the Faunus organization bared its fangs. Sniper shots began to ring out in vollies, damaging every Bullhead engine at the same time. Such an action required insane coordination... which Adam beat into the special Faunus force. Go figure.

 _I'd prefer anti-air, but that's a bit too flashy for what we want. Plus, ground-to-air missiles have a bad habit of being shot down and leaving survivors with Aura alive._

 _Using snipers is the only good solution to that issue. And a bonus... not many can block or dodge sniper shots. I can assume most of the SSS can't._

 _Now, Winter and her Glyphs... She can dodge, deflect, and take command. I would've ordered her dead first if she wasn't so good. Killing her will be next to impossible, and if we do we'll have wasted most of our resources._

 _She's my problem._

He checked the state of the enemy. _All Bullhead engines are damaged enough. Not all are useless, but it means they can't pursue us now. Next phase._

He took another flag from Aire and displayed it to all of his Faunus comrades. It was a dirty red that showed a human head. _The kill order for the Specialists. In a full, face-to-face fight against them, we can't win. So we kill them off from a distance._

 _I have 20 snipers. 10 can kill one off, Aura and all. With a five second reload, aiming period, and hesitation, it'll ideally take a minute to kill them all. But that's only on the Bullheads..._

 _The Cruise will notice us and target us. Although we know where the operator stations are, the armor is too thick for the snipers to penetrate. The physical systems servicing the weapons also have redundancy; we'd have to destroy four Dust lines to disable one of the lasers. So..._

"Hacking is done, Skoll," Aire notified as she brushed a bit of her hair away from her face. "We have at least two minutes."

He couldn't stand it. He laughed.

"Better than expected, then," Skoll replied, cracking a smile in the tense situation. "Hopefully, our Bullheads will come in soon..."

She scratched her ears nervously. "Um... about that... they've encountered Atlas sea-based defenses."

Skoll sighed. Well, he shouldn't have expected everything to go right. Luckily, he was at least somewhat ready.

"Can we hack the propulsion systems?" he asked Aire. "If so, we'll send the Cruiser down into the sea."

Her eyes cutely widened. "W-What do you m-mean?" she squeaked.

He stared upward as the giant Atlesian ship continued onwards north. "If we can't board their ship with our Bullheads, we'll make them come to us," he replied.

"W-Wouldn't that bring them-"

"Yep. They'd be in striking range. That's why we've got to make them land on the robotics bay."

Aire breathed in deeply, understanding. "The robotics bay... you're saying-"

Skoll nodded. "At best, we can take out all the Atlesian Knights they have. The servicemen onboard will still fight, though. Which means..."

"Explosives for them and the specialists, at least enough to daze them."

"Right, Aire. Another promotion."

She nodded quickly and happily, her dog ears twitching cutely. "T-Thanks..."

He smiled. "Anytime."

"Oh, one more thing... I HATE WATER!"

"GAH! Aire, get off of me! This is a warzone! Off! Now!"

As he tried to pry her off his left arm, he waved a blue flag with a downwards arrow. _Bring the Schnee to us, Cruiser._

* * *

Winter was annoyed. Her commanding officer, an arrogant colonel who had made his fame in the tactical world, had told her nothing could go wrong. That the "uncivilized brutes" that were the Faunus couldn't even dream about denting the Cruiser. That the Faunus were dumb enough to come at Atlas because of one name: Weiss Schnee.

Winter instantly hated the man the moment they met. He wouldn't stop hitting on her, and it seemed like he was targeting Weiss too.

 _What a narcissist... how on Remnant did he even get promoted!?_

She ignored him as he tried, yet again, to show off. She wasn't impressed. Her sister's suitors were ten times more impressive than the colonel, and they were disgusting.

"Isn't he amazing?"

Winter turned to see a swooning officer staring at the colonel. "How?" she managed to ask calmly.

The officer sighed as she finished her work. "He's really handsome, with that blonde hair and sea-blue eyes... he's a super hard worker... he's funny... just about everything about him," she said.

 _He's arrogant, overbearing, and stupid. All he has is a silver tongue and good looks._

"Hello, Winter!"

Weiss walked up to Winter elegantly, smiling just a bit. She courtesied, drawing the eyes of male officers- and unfortunately, the colonel's.

The afternoon sun shone on Weiss, enhancing her beauty ever so slightly. Her short stature, easy yet proper movements, and beauty shone around her.

"Hello, Weiss. How are you?" Winter asked, bowing slightly. "How is your trip so far?"

"Satisfactory. I know which Huntress School I wish to attend. As for the ride, thank you once again. It has been smooth and surprisingly uneventful."

The colonel (damn him) held up his hand. "Please say thank you to the right person, Mrs. Schnee," he said suavely. "I've plotted the best course we can. No White Fang brutes would dare attack-"

Winter looked around the ship as the alarm blasted. _How did the White Fang find out where we were!? No wait... the colonel leaked info to attract them. That way, he could also say he protected Weiss..._

 _Glory hound._

"Sir, our Bullheads are being attacked!" a male soldier reported. "Their engines have been damaged, but they are still functional... barely."

"Order them to fire at the scum," the colonel replied. "Those savages are as good as dead."

An incoming message caught the attention of Winter. She easily allowed the call through. "Atlesian Cruiser **Cavalier** , this is Winter Schnee. What is it?"

"They've taken our Specialist."

Her eyes immediately widened. "What about the others?"

"The White Fang below are sniping them. They're killing them, Aura and all."

An unfamiliar voice entered the call. "Took you long enough to notice, kid," a slightly husky voice said.

"Are you behind this, White Fang?" Winter ordered. "Why?"

"Just listen carefully. You can give Weiss Schnee to us, and we'll let the rest leave. Or you can refuse, and we'll take down the ship. If you're thinking about shooting us all, don't even bother. We've hacked the Cruiser, comm system, and Bullheads. If you activate even one Atlesian Knight, we'll send you into the deep sea," he replied easily. For a Faunus that hated civilization, he was rather civil and sane.

"I'm not giving my sister to the likes of you beasts," the older Schnee sister said. "No matter what."

He sighed, almost sadly. "Well, I guess I have to do it then."

As the White Fang leader disappeared from the connection, the ship shuddered before beginning to drift downwards. No... it was plummeting towards the ocean.

The colonel staggered before holding onto the railing. "The scumbag hacked the propulsion systems..." he said, horrified.

"No s***." Winter muttered under her breath as she protectively grabbed her sister and shielded her with Aura.

Force rattled through the metal structure of the Cruiser, impacting all the crewmembers and their Aura. Winter could hear steel bending: the bottom part of the Cruiser was damaged.

Then it was over.

She turned her attention to her little sister. "Weiss! Are you ok?" she asked with worry in her voice. Winter was careful not to show it in her facial expression as she took out her weapon. She needed to be prepared for anything.

"I'm fine sister, but what's going on? Why did the alarm go off..." Weiss replied as she held Winter's hand tightly. She tried not show anything in her facial expression... but for once, the fear in her voice was was as clear as a summer day.

The colonel, by then, had recovered from the impact. "Activate the Knights," he ordered.

A serviceman tried before her eyes widened. "Can't. All Knights are out of commission."

Winter's thoughts raced as the crew all pulled out their weapons. _He must've forced the Cruiser to land on the robotics bay. That would've ruptured it and damaged all the Knights... by corroding the wiring and messing up the AI board with saltwater._

 _That Faunus... is a tactical and strategic genius._

 _He made our forces on the island we were going to land on useless by making sure we never reached the area. He also disabled communications, so Atlesian forces can't locate us. And he decimated our defenses by damaging them beyond use... using nature itself._

An explosion somewhere else in the ship brought her back to reality. It shook the fallen airship as testament to its strength.

Metal creaked, then snapped as the entrance to the command cabin flew open.

There they were. The White Fang, in flesh and bone.

"Last chance, Atlas. Hand over Weiss Schnee."

Winter pushed Weiss to the back of the colonel's formation and pointed her saber at him. "Not today, not ever," she replied.

The leader sighed, brushing his mottled brown hair. Unlike the rest of the White Fang, who seemed to have angular, brutal Grimm masks... his was smooth, elegant, and deadly. Almost the antithesis of what the White Fang stood for.

Winter had to reconsider her evaluation of the leader. She had thought he would be brutish, large, and imposing with that voice of his.

He stood about her height, maybe ever so slightly taller. He was slim and obviously not a musclehead. For a White Fang leader... he looked weak.

"... Well, that settles it. Should I say we've got improvised Dust bombs on the main engines?" he said. "We can blow you up."

The colonel sneered at the Faunus. "Shut up, you filthy animal. All you terrorists are just s*** under humans-"

For a trained Huntress, Winter was skilled in fighting high-speed battles. Yet she never saw him move. One moment, he was in front of her. The next, he had his weapon to the colonel's throat.

"Hmm? Say that again. I'm afraid all the explosions have dulled my hearing," the White Fang leader taunted. "Come on, don't be nervous. I'm not offended... yet."

For a smug snake, the commander was decent at combat, aiming his elbow at his assailant's face.

That was a mistake.

One punch brought the colonel's Aura down to zero and knocked him into a command console, breaking the station- and his left arm.

Once again, the mottled-brown haired Faunus gave his ultimatum. "Hand over the heiress."

"Not going to happen..." Winter managed to grit out. "Specialists, form a defensive line. We're taking this one down."

"Me? Please. You don't even know how deadly your ship is now."

Another explosion rocked everyone, save the White Fang leader, off their feet, opening the cabin to the outside world. By then, the cabin was now ruins, with no way to command the ship anymore.

 _A**hole. Now we're really crippled-_

A specialist to her left flew past her, burning despite the Aura around him (oh wait... it was gone). As he flew, the Faunus still standing intercepted him with another accurate blow. This time, it was lethal.

Winter recognized the weapon the mottled-brown Faunus wielded as he used it to pierce through the Specialist's left eye. _An estoc. Weapon used for thrusting. Similar to a rapier, but tends to be thicker. Can have a usable edge. It isn't normal: the weapon shines weirdly under the sun._

She cursed under her breath. She had next to no information about the enemy leader, save his weapon. She still had to figure out his skill, Aura levels, Semblance, and weapon forms. Without any of that, she was at a severe disadvantage, even with her Glyphs.

In comparison, the White Fang seemed to be ready. Any attack the crew shot at them, they countered perfectly. They easily rendered Atlas's defenses useless. Even the Specialists were picked off, one by one, without any casualties to the invading terrorists.

"Skoll-san, orders?" one of the Faunus (a female, due to the pitch of her voice) asked.

 _Finally. A name._

"Ehh... cripple them if you can. If they resist too much, kill them," Skoll replied. "We can't afford to have Atlas on our trail."

He parried easily as Winter thrust at him while utilizing her velocity Glyph. As Winter spun and sliced from the right, he leaned to the left and socked her with a right straight.

From there, she had no respite. Winter desperately tried to dodge and parry, but Skoll's blows seemed to give her no rest. They weren't enough to make her sick, but they shaved her Aura down faster than anything she'd ever faced.

She had no time to set up Glyphs. His speed was too fast, too efficient for her to keep up.

Then he stopped. "Come on. Fight back."

He again dodged another slash, but this time he was forced onto the defensive. The moment's respite allowed Winter to use her velocity Glyph to batter at Skoll.

 _This... is going to be a tough one. His technique is at a master's level, so while I might be faster he will always be more efficient. He can outlast me, so I have to end it quickly._

 _It's good that his strength isn't ridiculous-_

Skoll's estoc sent a jarring force up Winter's arm, forcing her to stop momentarily. He then grabbed her by the scuff and pitched her out of the cabin and into a maintenance door.

Winter summoned a flock of Nevermores to blind Skoll, but it all for nothing. Skoll just dodged under the (frankly) impassable storm of long-dead Grimm.

 _His Semblance... it's enhancement._

"You really think it's simply enhancement, eh? You'd be wrong." the mottled-brown Faunus said, as if he'd read her mind.

 _Dammit._

The older Schnee sister staggered onto her feet as she deployed her saber's dual-wield form. With practised, expert motions, she set up her offense against Skoll. Which... wasn't much good.

Winter recognized why the White Fang leader threw her into the maintenance system of the **Cavalier**. To reduce her movement and make it easier to take care of her, and thus force her into a disadvantaged state where her Glyphs weren't as useful.

She was half right. So, what's the other 50%?

* * *

Weiss was frustrated with life. It seemed that every time she'd been happy, the White Fang was there to ruin it.

Just when she had figured out how to be free from her father, the White Fang came knocking on the **Cavalier**. Just when she'd thought the Bullheads would take care of them, the Cruiser goes and strands her.

Just when her own sister comes up to protect her, the White Fang leader makes a fool of her.

So this time, Weiss wasn't going to sit back and let Atlas soldiers take care of the White Fang. She was tired of being protected, being the princess that could shatter with a touch.

The first White Fang goon that attacked her swung downwards with an old fire ax. Clumsy, slow, and obvious.

With an easy flurry of jabs, Weiss defeated the hunk of animal muscle.

The second White Fang (officer?) stood in front of Weiss, nervously unsheathing a combat knife. It shone oddly for steel, reflecting sunlight as a weird ocean of muted colors.

The heiress ignored such a detail as she created a velocity Glyph under her feet. Pushing off, she brought her rapier forwards and prepared to thrust.

"Aire! What are-"

"Hush! I'm dealing with Weiss Schnee!" the officer Faunus ordered.

Aire managed to parry Weiss's blade away and stepped forwards, punching the younger Schnee sister in the jaw.

Offended, the heiress spun and promptly froze the poor dog Faunus in ice.

 _That was easy... but still. I'm surprised._

There was only one thing to do. Find out where Winter was and take out the leader... Skoll, right?

Threateningly, Myrtenaster hovered at its foe's throat. "Where is Skoll?"

Aire's face filled ferociously fast with fear. "M-Maintenance corridor!" she squeaked.

And so, with a few velocity Glyphs Weiss rushed through the now ruined **Cavalier**. She didn't have to go far.

Her older sister's once prim perfect uniform was torn up, covered in soot, cuts, and oil. She could only briefly breathe before backflipping away from the White Fang leader.

Skoll was perfectly fine, save for some ash and residual Dust on his clothes. His weapon (an estoc) was... on fire.

Well, she'd seen weird things before, but a flaming sword wasn't one of them. In retrospect, she should've expected it. But she instead recognized it for what it was. _A Dust alloyed weapon. By carefully adding and mixing Dust into iron or steel, the metal would take on the properties of the Dust without consuming it, thus only requiring Aura to activate and utilize it. But mess up... and the metal becomes converted into a volatile bomb..._

 _Atlas was the first to try and make these weapons, but they were all flawed and dangerously explosive. It shelved the project because the efficiency for making Dust alloyed weapons was too low._

 _How he'd get one?_

The roar of long-slain Beowolves brought Weiss back to reality as Winter used her trump card: the summoning Glyph. She watched as a pack of 20 Grimm rose up again to slay the hound.

Skoll promptly negated the pack with an horizontal slice that bit through the undead (are Grimm alive?) darkness and soared towards Winter.

Weiss could hear her older sister grunt in pain as she was pushed back... into another maintenance hatch.

The mottled-brown haired dog Faunus gave chase to the poor Specialist, parrying easily against the panicking ice-eyed Schnee.

Winter performed a scissor cut that Skoll couldn't avoid. Skoll simply stabbed a cooling module and let the liquid within spray Winter down.

Her final attack, a double stab, was negated with two quick disabling slashes, one for each wrist.

Winter was defeated soundly. Without Aura and without any way to make her Glyphs or attacks connect, she had lost.

Her only hope now was that Weiss could get away-

"Winter!"

The older Schnee sister's heart stopped as Skoll turned around to face her little sister, alone. She knew she couldn't stop it. But...

It was all over.

"Weiss Schnee," the leader said sadly. "You chose to resist instead of sacrificing yourself for the greater good. And now you come to me."

The heiress pointed Myrtenaster at the dog Faunus. "And you attacked Atlas property for one little girl," she taunted. "Isn't that sad?"

He nodded, to her surprise. "It is. To be honest, I really didn't want to do this..."

Already, the conversation was transforming into the oddest talk she'd ever had with a White Fang member. Schnee gets hunted, Faunus says he really doesn't want to kill her, and now this.

"Look... It's either Atlas or Adam that tortures me. And I would rather have pain from your pop's company than the hell Adam Taurus would force into me," Skoll continued. "So..."

He sighed, sadly again. "I'll return her, Winter. I promise. But..."

Weiss could only momentarily see Skoll rush up towards her, his estoc burning as he swung it in a glowing arc. As it hit her head, the impact jarred her into unconsciousness. But she managed to hear one last thing. One last thing from the Faunus that brought the hell of the White Fang upon her and Winter.

It was... heartbreaking, in a way. Weiss didn't want to feel sympathy for the killers of her family. Yet...

It would haunt her for nights to come.

"I'm sorry, Weiss."


	3. Beta: Snow's Cage

_Share, review, and enjoy this baby! Sorry it took so long to update!_

 _For all the White Rose fans: yes, we like White Rose too. But we also like OC x Weiss... so I (O.S.) am sorry._

 _We'll get White Rose with another story. Just not this one: the expansion (White / Crimson Fang organization) kinda requires an OC._

 _And last but not least, we have a beta! Big thanks to_ _ **A Silver Dolphin**_ _! We highly recommend you should read his story_ _ **Jaune Arc, Kingsman Agent**_ _! I know I loved it._

* * *

 **Beta: Snow's Cage**

* * *

It stank. The moldy smell of Dust decaying stung his keen nose— the traces of Fire, Ice, and Lightning Dust aggravating his senses. The gloomiest weather Mistral could offer stewed around him: hot, humid, and cloudy. It felt sticky. _Gee. Thanks, Mistral._

Skoll would find no rest in the White Fang's main hideout. After all, he was now on Atlas's list of 'Faunus scum to be hunted', a 'threat' to be put down or captured on sight.

He carried the limp heiress on his shoulder. He didn't trust the others with her, and for the plan to work... it had to be done personally.

To keep his oath to Winter Schnee... was probably a death sentence. The Heiress of Remnant's most powerful Dust Company was simply too important to the mad bull-Faunus that led the White Fang. Adam would not stand by as Skoll made his escape with Weiss.

It was hard enough by himself. Add on an uncooperative, almost comically obvious white-haired non-Faunus to the mix, and escape became suicide.

But no. He had to do it anyway. How unfair.

Weiss was light. It was a pleasant surprise to the battle-weary Faunus; he thought she'd be heavier, 'burdened' with all her riches and luxuries. Yet it also reminded him of a scary aspect of the heiress: her fragility. If she had no aura, Skoll could've broken her into glistening shards of crystal. Hell, he wouldn't have been surprised if Weiss was made of ice.

For practicality, he had to lift her bridal-style. Her slim legs dangled as her head lolled repeatedly off and on his right shoulder.

Skoll had to admit she was beautiful, almost angelically so. But looks alone were not the way to trap the dog Faunus's heart. The only reason he was 'rescuing' her was because of his promise.

He hoped that Aire would understand that much, with the way she was glaring daggers at Weiss. He also hoped he could tell Aire he wasn't interested romantically in her without an eruption.

"How was Atlas, Skoll?"

Adam's reluctant right-hand Faunus turned to face his leader— an imposing masked bull with hair the color of stained blood. "Terrible. They've made it smell like a s***ty Dust refinery up there. It's even worse than here, and we're in Mistral."

One of Skoll's underlings spoke up. "Yer' right, leader. All f'er getting the blasted Schnee chick. Can I-"

"Not now. Wait till her execution. Then you can have your fun... hopefully before you have to do it with her remains."

Enthusiastically, the horse-Faunus underling nodded, salivating at the thought of violating the princess of ice. After all, her skin was perfect, and her body (for a cold-hearted teen) was hot. She was irresistible.

"... Execution?" Adam questioned, placing his hand on the hilt of his crimson blade.

The **Beta Tiger** was prepared. "If we're trying to show the world that we mean business," he started, "we should make her execution public. We'll hack the CCTS. Put her on display for all of Remnant to see."

Being the mad bull-Faunus he was, the **Alpha Tiger** of the White Fang nodded. "Sounds perfect!" he replied. "In that case, I give you full authority to make this work. Do not fail me."

Success. His chances of survival marginally increased. A small smirk cracked the stoic visage his face displayed. He now had personal control over Weiss Schnee's condition. Stage one went all according to plan.

It was the first behemoth hurdle of many he had to overcome. But things were looking ever so slightly brighter. With the trust Adam had in him, Skoll was free to plan his escape.

He felt sorry for Aire. She'd have to pick up the slack when he disappeared. She would have to deal with a fanatically crazy leader that distrusted her and who would no doubt make sure her life was a living hell.

"Get a usable bed and some chains," Skoll ordered as he shifted Weiss's position in his arms. "Those glyphs of hers are annoying."

The loyal grunts promptly brought out a 'cozy' mattress, reeking of alcohol and smoke, and tossed it into the filthy cell. With a sickly grin on his face, grunt number one presented the mottled-brown haired Faunus with rusty iron chains.

"All's ready for some bondage." He reported disgustingly.

Skoll sighed. These White Fang members looked as if they'd been completely brainwashed by Adam.

"Get her an actual bed— something you'd sleep on— and some new steel chains. Rusty chains can be easily severed by a Huntress, even one that's only in training." He lectured. "And if you really wanted to break her, you'd build her up and then tear her down."

 _Having a more welcoming environment—even if it's still a prison cell— will help me convince Weiss I'm really on her side, and allow me to plan the escape more easily. Having Weiss healthy will also make the escape faster._

His subordinates nodded in sick understanding as they moved out the furniture and found some high-quality metal links. They gleamed in the old lights of the former arms factory, as the grunts attached them to Mistral-produced Huntsmen-grade handcuffs.

A muscle of a buffalo Faunus handed Skoll the key. "Her' the keys for the Sch'ee brat, **Beta Tiger** ," he reported as his muscled hand let loose Weiss's future freedom.

His smaller, but no less powerful right hand (or paw?) grasped it. A piece of metal that made the plan work. Skoll could finally make it home...

 _But home left me for dead a long time ago. Nobody would ever love the runt of the litter, even if he's the eldest._

On that self-depreciatory note, he opened the containment cage's door and laid the heiress down carefully onto the clean sheets. Relieved of her weight, Skoll then breathed in deeply, taking note of the scents around him.

One was new to him. It was perfume mixed with sweat and... tears. A pure scent of ice pear deflowered by her fear and sadness.

He thought he was done crying, ever since he left an unwelcome home. But he cried in guilt for ruining her life.

* * *

The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, the wealthiest business to ever exist in all of Remnant, awoke on a soft, clean bed. Its smell reminded her of home–impersonal, perfect, and cold.

She jolted awake, only to find herself face-to-face with the Faunus who'd stolen her from Winter. The Faunus who'd taken her from Atlas, who'd snatched her from home and tore her from her life. His red, Grimm-like eyes stared at her menacingly, filling her with so much despair and fear, it could bring a reckoning of darkness upon everyone.

Myrtenaster flew from her fair waist, forced into her left hand as she lunged forward, its tip soaring towards her enemy's throat. The elegant blade parted the air as it made contact-

Only for it to suddenly veer off course, hitting the metal bars of the cage around her. It clanged loudly, drawing the attention of a White Fang guard, who laughed in mocking humor.

"You'll ha'fta do better t'an that, you Sch'ee brat," he said. "We'k lady like you d'un stand a chance 'ganst Boss h'ere."

Weiss scowled as she forced herself to stare into Skoll's eyes. She soon realized why her attack failed- he had grabbed her wrist and redirected her blade harmlessly to the side. Any more, and it would have been a textbook disable.

She lunged forward, leading with her left fist in a poor imitation of a good punch in an attempt to make him pay. But alas the chains restrained her, forcing her to stop.

"Just... do it. Kill me," Weiss spat bitterly.

Skoll chuckled in amusement. "And let you go so easily, Miss Schnee? I think not. After all, I've been waiting so long to talk to you. It'd be a pity if our time together was… cut short," he replied in a civilized, suave voice. Had it not been from a frustrating fanatic Faunus, she would've been flustered.

His grip probed momentarily before suddenly tightening, snapping Weiss's hand open and letting Myrtenaster drop to the cell floor. It hit the concrete flooring, like how the heiress's hope hit rock bottom.

"Well, I'll le've y'u and Boss h're," the grunt cackled, leaving his post. After all, it was time for break: alcohol and Via... wait, what was Remnant's version of a libido pill!?

Curse the authors.

Almost convulsively Weiss shook, flailing to break the dog Faunus's grip.

"Hey. Chill-" Skoll started.

Weiss struck again, this time managing to solidly sock him in the jaw. All it did was hurt her delicate fist- right between the knuckles was a cut.

She didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Not when she'd never be free.

The Faunus tried again. "Snow White, are you listening?"

Quietly, she whispered "No".

"Say that again?" Skoll asked as he scooted closer, just outside of her personal bubble.

Another punch made him turn his head ever so slightly to the left. It hurt Weiss's hand even more. But at least it did something.

The oppressive Grimm mask fell off his face. Weiss slid back in surprise, not horror.

She had expected an ugly Faunus drooling over her. He should've been disgustingly muscle bound. His face should've been covered in scars, and his gaze should've been like hellfire.

Instead... well, he was sort of cute.

 _What am I doing... I shouldn't be thinking like that! He tried to kill me!_

By no means was she attracted to him. His face, at best, was above average- barely. Yet there was something she couldn't put her finger on...

Was it his hair and Faunus ears? They were both mottled in all sorts of browns, from teak to tan. His hair was so messy that she had the urge to straighten it out. And his dog ears?

Cute.

Weiss slapped herself to prevent herself from being lost in his fluffiness.

Was it his eyes? At first, they were dark and foreboding. Yet instantly, they became honey-brown, a warm color that emphasized the gentleness within. They stared into her sky-blue ones, observing and nothing more.

Finally, he let go of her wrist and took out a little plastic box from his pocket. A first-aid kid. Opening it, he extracted what he needed: gauze.

He gestured towards himself, telling Weiss to come closer. The heiress refused.

Sighing, Skoll scooted forwards before gently taking her left hand and examining it. He experimentally touched around her knuckles and palm to see where it hurt.

At least the heiress could see what she'd done. Her eyes immediately spotted a light bruise that began to form on Skoll's left cheek.

The cut. It stung and made Weiss almost grit her teeth together. Skoll took the gauze and pressed it firmly against her knuckles.

"Your punches are terrible, madam," he said in that unforgettable, slightly husky voice of his.

Weiss only glared at him.

The dog Faunus laughed, smiling at her. "And the madam, the daughter of a corrupt CEO, says I'm not a gentleman."

With her free shackled hand, the heiress pinched Skoll's left cheek between her thumb and pointer finger. "Say that again, dog," she warned.

"I would, but the princess won't let me," Skoll replied jokingly.

She tried to lunge at him, but the chains again stopped her. The White Fang leader noticed and quickly bandaged her cut.

"Easy there. What do you need?" Skoll asked, gently.

"Go away, please," Weiss groaned. "Just… keep your distance, mutt. I feel ill, and you are not helping."

Skoll stared at her, unimpressed. "And you say that when I just gave you first aid. Thanks a lot."

A scowl almost bloomed on the heiress's face. Weiss didn't want to give Skoll the satisfaction of breaking her. "But you captured me, you pretentious 'gentleman', and plan on ra-"

"The grunts are going to do you, not me. And it's not today, and I'm trying to be nice to you, madam," the White Fang leader interrupted.

"And does it make any difference?" the icy younger Schnee sister said. "I won't be dead."

"You wish you were that lucky."

"I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO BE AWAY FROM THIS- THIS HELLHOLE!"

Weiss began crying, her resistance failing as she tried to wipe away her tears. They continued to fall as her sobbing continued, ringing throughout the containment ward.

She couldn't handle it anymore. It hurt, her life held in the hands of the White Fang. The atmosphere around her seemed to shatter her, as if grinding her down into slivers of ice. They broke her so easily.

For an ice queen, she could feel the cold, too. It only reminded her of how alone she was.

Warm arms wrapped around her, gently rubbing her back. They comforted her in a way she wished her father's stiff wrap would do. She willingly laid her head down on Skoll's shoulder, drying her tears with his jacket. Slowly, she moved her hands up to his shoulders and gave him a little nudge.

 _Wait, I let him hug me, didn't I?_

Weiss's face exploded in all sorts of reds and pinks as she started battering the dog Faunus with weak punches. Skoll let her do so.

"The hug wasn't romantic, Weiss," he started before the heiress hit him with a nasty backhand.

Skoll sat up straight before blocking another slap with his left forearm. "Hey, listen up-"

"W-Why should I, y-you-" Weiss managed to stutter out, still in shock at what happened.

"Ruffian, mutt, mongrel, criminal, terrorist, and White Fang leader?" Skoll replied, finishing her sentence. "Because..."

He carefully glanced around him for other Faunus. None were there.

Ice-blue eyes stared into distracted honey-brown eyes. Weiss saw worry, patience, and fear.

Skoll leaned in carefully. "I made a promise to your sister to break you out," he whispered, his eyes dead honest.

The Schnee couldn't believe it.

"Liar," she hissed smoothly.

He rolled his eyes. "More like traitor, Ice Princess. You realize I'm risking everything for this, right?"

Weiss glared at him. "There's no way your leader is that bad," she said, desperate to convince herself.

"He's a hardliner hell-bent on killing all the Schnees and everyone related to them, he wants to rid the four kingdoms of humans, and believes he's the hero of all 'true Faunus' even though he's willing to murder his own kind. Plus, he's criminally insane and damn good with a katana." Skoll replied evenly. "Adam is crazy, to lightly put it."

"Anyone can say that," the white-haired teen countered.

Somehow, it annoyed the dog Faunus. "Just listen up, human. The more you argue, the worse it'll be for the both of us. "

"How can it get any worse than this?" Weiss asked, sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't know. Forced feeding from both ends?" Skoll replied. "That was the original plan. You're lucky I convinced Adam."

The white princess proceeded to get comfortable with the bars of the cage. Only one thing was missing: a dance 'round the pole.

Skoll pulled her away from the bar, sighing. His patience was running out, and he had a lot of it.

Weiss only writhed in his grasp. Harder, better, faster, stronger. It did no good against the White Fang defector. But one word did break his calm, making him slam her into the walls of the cage.

 _Runt._

There was frustration in those honey-brown eyes, corrupting it into a near-black brown. Then there was shame, and those eyes became light again.

He let go of her fair wrists as he looked down. Weiss almost wanted to say sorry.

Almost.

It was too late to apologize when Skoll left the cage.

Night fell soon after and Weiss was still up, worrying. For the rest of the day she saw no sight of Skoll.

The food here was decent. No doubt it was Skoll's doing. And her treatment by the grunts was at least somewhat nice, a thousand times better than that of the buffalo Faunus. The stares were as discreet as possible.

And finally, her cell. Her bed was clean and functioning, and the floor within the cage was spotless. That dog Faunus knew how she liked her space... and managed to give it to her.

Her situation would've been much more grim without Skoll.

As she sat alone in her prison, all she could do was sigh and regret. If only he was here...

"Dammit, what do I do now..." a new voice began, unaware of her presence.

Weiss's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she sat up straight. _Another Faunus is monitoring me- no, wait..._

 _He sort of sounds like Skoll..._

The bars of her cage vibrated a bit as the Faunus slammed his head onto it, as if beating himself up. His voice was normal, human- unlike the deep and foreboding tone he had earlier.

"Winter, why did you give me such an impossible task... Damn you, Schnee," Skoll murmured, unaware that Weiss was snooping on him. "I've messed up."

What little light entering her cage allowed the heiress to see him in full view. Weiss watched a different side of him emerge, one that was careful, honest, and stressed.

If she looked beyond his White Fang status, Weiss would've said he was adorable. And his words...

Those ears were in reach of her hand. This time, she followed her instincts and began scratching them, kneading them.

Skoll instantly sat up straight as he took a sudden breath. He turned ever so slightly, his honey-brown eyes watching her in amazement.

Then he sighed as he leaned on the bars, his eyes closed.

"How are you so good at this?" he whispered, in that normal voice. Weiss preferred him to keep it like this.

The heiress flushed in embarrassment. She just did it.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Skoll again let out a contented sigh. "See, that's the Ice Queen I like. Someone who gets they're not perfect. Like me. A whole lot relatable now, eh?"

"Oh, shut it," Weiss sternly said as she kept on scratching his fluffy ears. "Just be quiet and let me enjoy this."

He shut up.

But he didn't stop his plan. Skoll reached out and placed his palm onto the heiress's snow-white hair. His honey-brown eyes stared daringly into her sky-blue ones.

"Do you trust me?"

Weiss's eyes closed as she sighed. "No. Not yet."

"Will you ever?" he pushed.

"Maybe never..." the Schnee said. "I mean, what's going to prevent you from saving your own hide. You've told me about Adam. Why go against him?"

"Weiss, you know I'm pro-Faunus rights. It's just that I can't see myself under Adam's bloody banner," Skoll replied. "He's about killing all the humans, sure. That's already radical. But then he talks about tearing down each and every one of humanity's creations, or at least "repurposing" it for Faunus use. That's basically leveling Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo."

"Wouldn't you be safe, then?" Weiss asked.

The dog Faunus shook his head. "Nobody's safe from Adam's madness. He'll do a purge of the White Fang ranks someday."

Weiss played a bit with his hair. "I can't trust you then... I mean, it's a sad story, but... I can't believe this out of nowhere."

His hand stopped petting her. "In that case, I'll need to make a temporary blood contract. An oath of loyalty."


	4. Gamma: Oath of the Dog

_Share, review, and enjoy once again! It's been so long! Sorry! T-T_

 _Yes, there was some fluff. As in a fluffy dog. No regrets, though! You knew what you signed up for when you saw_ _ **[Weiss x OC]**_ _. And there's only going to be more-_

 _As it's been so long since I posted, here you go. No beta this time._

* * *

 **Gamma: Oath of the Dog**

* * *

Winter was in a panic. Not for herself and the possible demotion from the jack*** of a commander she had, but for Weiss. With her own eyes, she saw her baby sister taken away by a White Fang leader.

She wasn't sure what to make of him. Winter thought she knew what the Faunus field commanders were like: rough, insensitive, and positively disgusting. They were idiots, too: the older Schnee swore she once saw one of the muscle-bound Faunus nearly shoot himself. In combat, their flailing movements only had misused strength behind them.

Skoll was not that kind of Faunus. If she hadn't seen his dog ears, she would've said he was human. His movements were masterful, dodging and parrying her attacks with next to no effort. And from the moment he stepped onto the ruined **Cavalier** , Skoll had taken control of the duel. He forced her into situations where her Glyphs couldn't even the odds and into areas he exploited ruthlessly. She had no chance from the beginning.

The elder Schnee insisted that the White Fang leader was much, much more dangerous and much more complicated than previously thought. Yet Winter's length and detailed post-battle analysis had been laughed off by the higher-ups in the chain of command, all saying the same exact thing.

"There's no way a crude brute like that could ever defeat Atlas," Winter muttered, "my ***. Give him the army of one of the kingdoms and he could raze the northern continent in a year."

The only person who took her report seriously was General Ironwood, a legend among the Atlesian military. At the meeting, he rubbed his right temple with his fingers vigorously and sighed. Winter remembered what he said: "Meet me in a few hours. We need to talk. Alone."

The Atlas Specialist remembered her commander-in-chief, as well as the various myths about him. He projected an air of confidence and strength, but underlying that was courage as strong as steel. He made his name by culling the Grimm numbers in Atlas massively, allowing the kingdom to expand in the northern continent. But that's where fantasy left reality.

One story told how, with a single bullet, Ironwood ended a Goliath. Another recalled the tale where he beat a whole army back with a squad of recruits. Yet the most unbelievable one was how he lost the whole right side of his body, and still managed to kill a giant Nevermore.

Winter could believe the first story, refute the second, and wonder about the third. But that amazement took a backseat to Skoll.

When she told her general about the White Fang leader, she saw a new emotion: fear. It wasn't overpowering, but it was instinctive.

Without a word to the occasional (and annoying) admirer or to snobby commanders, she made her way to Ironwood's office. She didn't make it far.

"How are you doing, Ice Queen?"

Winter stopped in her tracks as she made eye contact with the person she most hated. He wasn't the most smug, or the most egotistic. But his arrogance rubbed her the wrong way. No, rubbed is too mild. Scratched was the right word.

Born rich and sheltered from the world, he was raised racist, overconfident, and _way_ too well. He thought himself as a hero who deserved all he wanted: money, fame, and a Schnee.

The elder Schnee loathed Zweig Feuer. His hot-headedness got him into trouble thousands of times in the field, and only his luck made sure he survived. Yet somehow, he had enough talent and skill to become the youngest Atlesian Specialist, at age 18. Only a handful could ever dream to be him.

Winter was the only one who knew his father was the one reason he was in.

 _If it was him against Skoll, Skoll would've killed him easily._

The thought entangled herself deep into her mind, refusing to budge against Winter's half-a**ed arguments. She knew that it was true. Zweig would've been blown up and then impaled, even if he was using his Semblance. Whatever it was.

Winter rushed past him, ignoring his "innocent" bump on the shoulder. She pushed his words out of her head, leaving them to wither away in the silence.

"I said HEY! 1st Lieutenant Schnee-"

"Private Feuer. Need I remind you the proper etiquette for Atlesian Specialists?"

The 18-year-old greenhorn immediately froze.

"I am on my way to a meeting, Private. This does not concern you," Winter nearly hissed, her mind at the breaking point. "Talk to the other, more intelligent private Specialists before you dare break a rule again."

With her icy words out in the air, the elder Schnee felt a twinge of guilt. She honestly didn't meant her words to be so harsh. Despite his beliefs, he did his job with a stubbornness only seen once in every generation. He listened, and was on good terms with everyone. Zweig may not have been the best, but he was a model Specialist.

What made him that? Well, he kept on improving, to the point where even his racism was more superstition than all out hate.

"I'm sorry, Private Feuer. I've- I've had a hard week."

Zweig nodded in understanding. "It's fine, 1st Lieutenant Schnee. It's just that Faunus b*****'s fault."

"Language, Private," Winter admonished.

"Yes, ma'am," Zweig replied, standing up a little taller. "Can I still call you Ice-"

"Denied. Now, go on and check on the other Privates. I expect a report of their condition at 1800 hours."

A salute later, and Winter was left alone to her thoughts. It seemed to take an eternity to reach Ironwood's office, and even longer to wait at the door once she knocked.

"You're just on time."

He stood proud like a steel skyscraper did in Atlas, his salt-and-pepper hair framing a still-handsome battle-worn face. He stood at least half a foot taller than her, his muscular body only hidden by custom armored clothing. A metallic slip connected to his right temple. Gloves concealed his powerful hands.

Ironwood gestured with his left hand. "Follow me. There's some testing to be done."

Winter's mind only turned up a question mark. "Why, sir?" she asked.

The steady steps of a veteran echoed gently and authoritatively down the hall. "We need to get a feel of how good this... Skoll is," Ironwood replied. "A personal performance and a comparison between the two of you should make the rest of the Atlesian military understand. After all-"

"Numbers are numbers, sir," Winter finished.

The general nodded. "They'll have you wear a bodysuit tracking your movements and have people of varying levels fight against you. Your job is to report whether or not fighting them is harder or easier than trying to land a hit on Skoll. Although I already know what happened, you need to convince them."

"Bodysuit... I see..."

 _It's going to be tight, isn't it? For all the boys..._

"They'll have you wear another layer over the bodysuit to detect hits. It's like clothing."

Winter let out a breath in relief. "Can I get started then, sir?"

"Permission granted," Ironwood cooly replied.

Briskly, she slipped away to the women's restroom, where her white (of course) jumpsuit hung from the ceiling. Simple.

One unwritten undressing and dressing scene later, she jogged out, stretching out and warming up her muscles. Her saber hung by her side, ready for her opponents.

They stood in front of her. Specialists. And among them...

 _Zweig... Oh boy._

* * *

Weiss still couldn't wrap her head around Skoll in general.

They both were in the steel cage, the metal glinting slightly in the dim lights. There was no sound at all around them, not even the breathing of a White Fang guard. It was just the two of them, sitting together awkwardly on the clean white bed.

Her heart hammered in her chest. Without a weapon and the senses of a Faunus, it would be impossible to defend against an assailant. Combine a skilled combatant with her disadvantaged position, and her defeat was guaranteed. If Skoll forced himself on her… she'd be **[censored]**.

Somehow, in this situation, she was fantasizing about him. She could imagine him stripping his shirt off, revealing his powerful body hidden by his slim frame, before pushing her onto her back on the bed. Her sky blue eyes could see him climb on top of her, his left arm forcing her wrists onto the white sheets. With his other hand, he could unzip her pure dress (complete with a miniskirt) and slowly, teasingly pull it off her and leave her in her undergarments. It'd then be a simple matter of-

"Weiss? Weiss, you're daydreaming aren't you?" Skoll said.

The heiress almost failed to notice his hand waving in front of her face.

She let out a shaky breath, glad that her thoughts didn't… finish her irrational fantasy. "O-Oh… sorry. I'm just thinking…"

Weiss's words caught in her throat as Skoll slipped off his White Fang leader's uniform in one smooth motion with his right hand. His abs and pectorals were smaller than she thought they were, but they fit his frame much better. They were so much more defined: the muscles looked like they were chiseled onto him.

His arms were so mesmerizing too. He wasn't overly bulky or lanky, somehow fitting miraculously into that perfect zone with enough muscle to look powerful.

Somehow, she had the weirdest desire to wrap her arms around one of them. She wasn't sure why. It could've been that warm feeling in her chest…

 _Wait… isn't this the Stockholm Syndrome?_

Weiss's memory was luckily unaffected by biceps and pectorals and brought the necessary information.

Stockholm was a northern Atlesian prison on paper… and a torture facility for prisoners of war. It was a structure of cruel concrete and steel, and home of a fire Dust lode and even hotter cruelty. Reports of hypothermia and marches in the freezing land flew into Atlas.

At first, the citizens were outraged. They tried to convict the warden of human rights violations by bringing former victims in as testimony. But it backfired horribly, with the ex-convicts instead defending the… monster in the most ludicrous of ways. One of them, a captured war nurse from Vacuo, argued that the guards only abused her _once_ a day, which was better than _three_ times a day.

In the end, the warden went free, and to this day Stockholm was still open.

Weiss pushed Skoll away, her hands momentarily touching his upper chest. The dog Faunus didn't move back, but he did stand up and walk to the far end of the cage.

"Sorry…" Skoll said, his face covered by the shadows.

Shakily, the younger Schnee sister began. "How can I trust you? I mean, at any moment, this… oath could be broken," she said. "I mean… there's no obligation for you. You'll lose everything."

"It's better to have a chance to make it better, Weiss," the White Fang traitor replied. "Either way, I choose to sacrifice."

"You're just saying that to break me, aren't you?" the heiress snarled, again momentarily overwhelmed by the situation. She wanted to cry again.

She wouldn't give him the pleasure of that.

"No," he replied immediately.

And once again, her bias spoke faster than her mind. "You're a liar, like the rest of your kind."

Skoll's left hand clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth. In the silence, the grinding was barely audible.

In the dim lights, Weiss swore she saw blood. It was red, just like hers.

"Maybe I am. Sometimes, the truth is crazier than the lie."

And smoothly, he picked up his momentarily discarded uniform and began to open the prisoner door to freedom-

As Weiss tried to sneak up on him, Skoll suddenly closed the door. It was surprisingly quiet as he roughly pushed her onto the bed. A look of momentary panic filtered through his eyes.

"How is your time with the Schnee so far?"

The heiress's sky-blue eyes met the Grimm mask of the bull Faunus man in front of her. Much like Skoll, he was slim and muscular. His very being was cruel like the horns on his head, which could gore her to death.

He wore black and red: darkness and blood. By his side was a sheath… and a katana. A weapon designed to cleave flesh apart cleanly.

She was on edge. This was Adam, leader of the White Fang. She was right in front of the leader of the terrorist organization that killed her family members.

"Not bad," the scheming Faunus second-in-command replied. "She's doing decently. Just learning more about each other."

Satisfied, Adam nodded. "Good. Do not fail me. Prepare her for later," he ordered before walking off.

Skoll bowed at bit before letting out a breath he had been holding.

"That was close."

The panic again set into his eyes, pleading with her, begging her. They were puppy eyes.

"You could've died right then. Everything I've been doing, for nothing. It'd be better if Adam focused more on me than the world," Skoll croaked. "You die, and the world goes to s***."

Weiss frowned. "Language, you mangy dog-"

He sighed. "Fine..." he grumbled gently.

He sat as far away from her on the floor, in the shadows.

Silence.

There nothing they could talk about. The heiress's irritation faded away as... minutes... or hours... ticked by? She couldn't tell. And as time went by... she felt sorry.

Here was a Faunus trying so honestly to help her escape, and what does she do? She pushes him away.

For a moment, Skoll leaned forward into the light. His face and ears... just... down...

So she stood up, her feet gently sounding on the stone floor. She took elegant steps at first before impulsively sliding on her knees on the smooth rock and hugging him. It hurt a bit- but not as much as her own guilt and feelings.

The dog Faunus sat up straight, his dog ears perked up in utter surprise. His honey-brown eyes widened as his breathing immediately quickened.

"W-Weiss..." he asked quietly.

"I'm being too mean to you, aren't I?" she said. It was hard, swallowing those words and her pride. It was all based on a rare decision of intuition, fighting against the logic she prided herself on.

For once, she felt like she had made the right decision. The muscles that she could feel relaxed significantly as Skoll exhaled.

"To be honest... yeah," he replied.

He breathed in, then smiled a bit. "Jeez, you stink... I mean, the ice pear isn't real at all, so why use it? Your natural scent is much better," he commented. "I can feel those chemicals drafting up my nose, and they burn. Well, not really, but you get the idea. It's not natural at all..."

Weiss punched him in the stomach softly. "Shut up. It's not like you're any better, you sweaty puppy," she retorted. "Also, you were smelling me? Gross."

Skoll rolled his eyes. "What'da expect a dog to do? Be cute all the time and chase its tail all day long?" he said.

The heiress nodded. "Pretty much," she replied.

The traitor White Fang member shook his head and wrapped his arms around Weiss again, drawing her close to his bare chest. As he did so, Weiss managed to drape his jacket over his shoulders before she grabbed his cheeks and pinched him.

"Did I say you could hug me?" she said in a mock threatening voice.

Skoll smiled. "Did you say you didn't want one? No? Well, then shut up. I need a hug, you need a hug, so viola," he replied. "But anyways... I guess you could listen to who I am."

His warmth comforted her, somehow... like curling up to a pet by a fire. She wanted to be like that to him, even though she looked ice cold.

Weiss's hands found her way to his shoulders. "Is this... okay? I've never been t-this close to somebody... like... you..." she asked.

Skoll nodded, his heart pounding a bit more. When you have such an adorable person so close to you, of course that'll happen! "Better," he admitted. "Warmer."

Absentmindedly, he began brushing his fingers through her pure-white ponytail. "I guess I'll start with who I am."

He gulped audibly. Weiss could tell that this was a sensitive topic for him.

"My real name is Blazon Chien. I am the eldest son of, frankly, the most powerful Faunus family in Mistral. Ironic, considering the hellhole I'm in now and the current state of Fauni-human affairs."

A sad glint entered his eyes. "And as the eldest son, I disappointed them from the very moment I was born. Somehow, I have no idea, I was the runt of them all. You see... the Chiens pride themselves on strength and other physical abilities. They believe themselves to be the strongest, the fastest, the best damn combative Faunus out there. They argued that they could, most of all, stand the test of time and persevere through everything. And I? All I had was intelligence."

"Even though they called me horrifying names, they still expected me to pledge allegiance to him. To let them dictate my life, when they explicitly stated they would rather end it."

Skoll grit his teeth. "So I ran off into the night after my siblings had trained to exhaustion. I barely escaped by jumping off a damn cliff so instead of dying by my family's hand, I'd die by the ocean's hand. Guess what? It didn't work out."

"Instead of dying, I swam. Whatever the case, I kept my breath and didn't go down under for good. I don't know how long I treaded water, but I made it to a smuggling ship en route to the beaches of an island west of Menagerie. So instead of drowning, I got to survive with no idea where I was and no idea to survive in the wild."

He laughed sorrowfully. "Turns out, there was a exploration expedition in the morning after I landed on the island, long after the smugglers did their trading and left. It was led by a cat Faunus who nearly kicked me back into the ocean when I stared at him wrong. Black hair, golden eyes, and muscle- well, it's a understatement to say I nearly died. He probably thought I was bait from Faunus bandits in the area."

"Night fell, and I found myself in the care of that Faunus's daughter. I managed to recover from all of that, but..."

He pulled up his pant legs to midway of his thighs.

"... these will be here forever. Truth be told, I'm amazed I wasn't crippled back then," Skoll finished. "The way she was treating them, I thought they'd have to be amputated."

The scars carved into his legs were nothing short of chaotic, following no clear pattern at all. They looked liked a bear went on a slashing frenzy on them before letting a honey badger do the finishing touches. Branches of pale, thicker flesh remained on his slightly tanned legs. As they rose past the rolled-up cloth, Weiss suspected that they went up just below his hips.

In fact, now that she noticed the leg scar, she could also see even more healed cuts. A long but shallow one drew itself to the right of Skoll's abs. A jagged rip had healed into a twisting scar from his left pectoral to his upper back.

"Tch... even to this day they still hurt," Skoll said. "I don't know why. And occasionally, they feel weak. But anyways..."

His arms pressed a bit tighter against Weiss's back, bring the two even closer.

"The Belladonnas at the time were part of the White Fang before... before the organization's change in ideology. In fact, _they_ led it. So when the leader stepped down... his subordinate came up. And that's where Taurus, I, and Belladonna's daughter came into play. You see..."

"Go on," Weiss told him. "It's fine."

He nodded shakily. "There's different branches of the White Fang," Skoll explained. "The three of us joined the Vale branch to protest there before the change in leadership. When we were there, all of us steadily rose up in rank. Adam became the right-hand man of the Faunus in charge. Those were better times. Obviously, it didn't stay that way... when the Vale branch leader passed away. He was assassinated by a human supremacist."

"We took control with Adam's charisma, my intelligence, and Belladonna's passion for the Faunus cause. We essentially created the White Fang as it is today, or at least the foundation of it."

The heiress exhaled deeply to calm her nerves. "The base? What do you mean?" she asked cautiously. "Is it why the White Fang is so militant?"

He nodded. "Adam built this version of the White Fang on anger. On emotion. My logic was the only thing that kept the radical elements from spilling out into violence. And he agreed with me, at least initially..."

Those honey-brown eyes closed. "I... I can't go further..." he whispered. "It's all my fault..."

Her pale arms tightened around his neck. "Please," she begged.

Skoll shook his head. "I'm the reason you're being hunted by the White Fang. All because I didn't stand up to Adam. I didn't stop him when I could, and now I can't do anything..."

Sky-blue eyes stared down honey-brown ones. The heiress placed her hands just behind his humanoid ears, her delicate hands brushing through his hair. It felt soft.

"Skoll. Listen to me," Weiss softly said. "It's okay. Maybe I've been hunted, my family despised... but you've given me answers to why. Can you go on?"

A tear spilled out of the corner of his honey eyes. "Y-yes..."

Her head laid onto his upper chest, her body shifting to accommodate. In the slight draft the area inherently had, she drew herself even closer to Skoll. He was warmth. He was comfort. And, she suspected, he was the answer to her life.

"That day... Adam's crowd became truly his. I stood behind him during that rally, as always. Everything changed when... they killed their first human. A Schnee."

Skoll shivered. "Adam and the rest tore him apart. And I? I stood by, doing nothing. I didn't pull Adam back, I didn't contradict him. I didn't stand up for what the White Fang originally meant. And now? I'm worse than a sinner now."

"I let him die. By extension, I let the old White Fang die. It's easily the biggest regret in my life. I sold my beliefs for prosecution and the nightmarish hell of a future. So... S-So..."

More tears burst out.

"Help... me..."

The heiress pulled his crying face close to hers. "Shh... shh... It's fine. Um... the pact..."

Under the gentle, watchful moonlight, in an abandoned warehouse in Mistral, Weiss Schnee kissed Skoll on the lips. It was light, gentle, unsure. He tasted sweet, like actual honey, with a bit of a salty tang. She wanted that taste, somehow. So she deepened-

Skoll's arms jerked her back. His eyes were blank as his mouth struggled to form coherent sounds, shaking in disbelief. Weiss could actually see the red on his face, which she knew was on hers as well.

"Wha- Wha- What are you doing!?" he stammered.

The heiress sighed as she leaned in again, only for the dog Faunus to lean back and keep her a safe distance away with his arms. "I'm sealing the oath with you-" she began.

He shook his head. "No. Not how it works."

Those light-blue eyes stared into him, boring into his skull in disbelief. "You're saying that I spent my first kiss on you," she managed to say, "and wasted it."

Skoll nodded.

Freezing daggers stabbed into the dog Faunus's eyes, chilling him to the bone. "You..." Weiss began, her voice heightening to-

"Shh, shh, shh!" he whispered as he brought her back into a hug. "It's... it's a bit complicated. Umm... how do I put this..."

Those honey-brown eyes closed. "Wrong oath. You almost did one that'd last for a lifetime. Like... oh god. I'm not telling-"

"Like what?" Weiss interrogated as she brought him closer with a hand and an aura that made Skoll shiver slightly.

"Like- Like a marriage," the White Fang traitor admitted. He closed his eyes, surrendering to his fate.

A light breeze rushed by. Weiss's breath. "Well... It wouldn't be _too_ bad."

"Eeeh!?" Skoll almost shouted before Weiss shut his mouth closed.

"Just go on with it," she ordered.

A moment passed by. Both silent as their thoughts raced by. Lap by lap, Weiss weighed her options once more. If she didn't trust him, she'd die. But if she did, he'd be able to save her... or more easily betray her. And either way, Skoll would lose his chance to make things right.

"Your oath with me... will you do it?" Sky-blue eyes closed as Weiss leaned more on Skoll.

"I will. I'll get you out of here, even if it kills me."

His Aura, a resolute pure white, flickered as their souls connected. His Semblance, unused for years, would finally see use again.


	5. Delta: Eyes and Ears

_It's been such a long time you might've thought I gave up on this. I did not. Unfortunately, this is more difficult for me to write than Fumetsu. Writing a tactician/strategist dog Faunus getting along with a Dust magnate's daughter is just hard._

 _Luckily, it is by definition fluffier._

 _I wish._

* * *

 **Delta: Eyes and Ears**

* * *

"Learn the routes of the guards, as well as their habits. Remember the room and where they point."

Weiss nodded, leaning against Skoll's chest as she examined the small map Skoll kept within his jacket. When she had asked about it, he quickly explained: the smell.

"It's too much Dust, metal, and chemicals," he said. "It burns if I inhale for too long, so I can't retrace my steps in here. So I had to memorize it all, including some shortcuts."

He sat behind her, supporting her with his own body. Thankfully, he was clothed.

Skoll's regalia was a worn gray trench coat, with a White Fang mark poorly sewn in coarse red on its left arm. Half of its buttons were missing, either popped off or broken off by the relentless abuse Skoll put himself through. It flowed down just below his knees, billowing out slightly for mobility. A cut allowed the two legs to comfortably move side to side.

Weiss noted stitched-up sections upon the once pristine article, along with the thicker sections of it. Experimentally, she flicked it.

"Metal? Is this... armor?" she asked cautiously.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course. I ended up modifying the original jacket. Helps me reduce my Aura usage, and when I'm all depleted it'll take some shots. Plus, it has extra storage."

A smirk told her she wasn't going to know anytime soon. She pouted before grasping his coat and folding it out a bit.

Underneath his coat was a white undershirt. Simple: nothing to be said about it. It was there to be taken off when ripped and useless.

Finally, he wore a pair of trackpants that tightly fit around his ankle. Like his trenchcoat, it was modified with even more pockets.

"Yes, I know I should've gotten cargo pants," Skoll said. "These were the only ones that fit me well at... well, you know where."

She nodded. "I understand, it is your legs."

Weiss heard a sigh of relief. Her sky-blue eyes turned towards him, staring.

Skoll just cupped a hands over his groin. "Glad you got it. Now then... Guard A, show me his path."

Weiss looked back to the map, settling herself back into the unknown place.

The abandoned factory was neatly organized around a central node- at least, the original build was until the White Fang got ahold of it.

It would be fair to say that it was now a underground bunker, complete with an above-ground fort and a fleet of aircraft. Underneath earth was a wild cavern system that looked rather like a labyrinth, with the only two exits at a central area for easy ambush and defense, and in the wall at a corner for a secret escape. It was stocked with everything for survival to construction.

It was, as Skoll put it: "A White Fang haven, armed with as much weapons and booze to your hearts content."

"Why would White Fang members need alcohol, though?" Weiss asked politely.

He sighed. "You didn't know? Faunus have a worse standard of health than humans, in general. They have a higher incarceration rate in everywhere but Vacuo, have higher rates of drug abuse on average, and especially have a higher rate of alcoholism. Unfortunately, there's no way better to forget abuse and racism than hitting the pubs."

The heiress sadly looked at him. "Is there anything that the Faunus have better than humans?" she said.

"Besides additional appendages or enhanced senses or improved traits, nope," Skoll replied. "I could give you more depressing statistics, if you like."

Weiss smiled. "I think I can handle it, mongrel."

"Hey!"

"Hmm? Is the little pup's feelings hurt?"

He bared his sharp canines before growling in mock anger. "Very. Apologize, or I'll slobber you with drool and get dirty."

"Eeeew, puppy drool. If only you were cuter," the heiress dismissed. "Then I would take you seriously and do whatever-"

Almost instantaneously he gave her a kiss on the cheek, his head over her left shoulder before he sat back and smirked. There was the look of utter satisfaction as he cradled her body.

"What- WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Weiss demanded as she dropped her map and turned to face his smug face. Her hands made their way to his cheeks as they pinched them, tightly. "YOU LITTLE MUTT!"

Mottled brown ears only perked up even more as he removed her pale hands from his cheeks. He couldn't help but laugh at her reaction.

"What? You're that flustered from a little puppy smooch?" Skoll said, grinning. "Is that adorable enough for you?"

"No! Not at all!" the heiress said, refusing to even comment on his appearance. "Your face is above average, and that's it! You have absolutely nothing else going for you! Even my suitors are better than you!"

The White Fang second-in-command raised an eyebrow. "Suitors? You mean rich, sheltered dimwits who can't even clean between their toes but think they're entitled to a pretty wife or husband?"

Weiss was shocked by his succinct explanation.

The dog Faunus rolled his eyes. "Worst type of recruits. They expect an officer position right from the bat without having basic training. They want to be warriors without all the hard work. They are idiots. Most of the poor people I train do significantly better."

Ice-blue eyes glared at him. "Are you implying that I'm somehow... _inferior_ to you?"

"No, I'm saying at this rate, I'll leave you behind. You'll have to catch up to me-" Skoll taunted.

The younger Schnee proceeded to form a fist and punch him in the face, turning his head to the right. Her hand didn't hurt this time- Skoll taught her how to lead with the first two knuckles and punch properly.

"Better," he said, rubbing his left cheek. The bruise from yesterday was still there, and her punch made it slightly worse. It was a light purplish tint on his face now. "At least you have some fight in you."

"I have some more, if you want," Weiss growled. She raised her other fist, only for Skoll to cup his palm around her hand. He gently squeezed it, before directing her attention to the temporarily discarded map.

"At this point," Skoll began, "I think you know the backup plan and the schedule thoroughly so in case some factors are changed, we can use it. You know the bunker's layout, and as a result the best hiding places as well. That's still not enough."

Weiss's eyes closed. "Then what is enough?" she asked.

He sighed. "We need enough time to make our escape. Therefore the escape itself needs to be quiet or early enough so that we have a head start. The schedule calls for a role call underground, making sure everyone is accounted for. This means you have to be there, or else our whole plan is out the window. It also can't be the night before the execution day."

"But why not then? At that time, we'll have the cover of night. The attention of White Fang members will be at its lowest. They'll probably be too drunk to notice our escape," Weiss logically explained. "Shouldn't that work?"

Skoll sighed. "If White Fang recruits were humans, that'd be true. Unfortunately, everybody here is Faunus. That means everyone can see in the night to a limited extent. In addition, it's the day before your execution. That means everyone is expecting you to stage an escape, so security will be tighter than usual. Even the alcohol works against us here, because then the paths of the guards are extremely unpredictable. In that case, the guard rotations aren't useful. Thus, there's only time we can escape: torture."

"Wait, what!?" Weiss practically burst before she closed her mouth. "Why? That's literally the worst time possible!"

The dog Faunus sighed. "I know, but it's also our best chance. Adam has given control of that part to me, which means I can dictate how to 'torture' you for around 15 minutes. This means I can control access to you."

"... Well, go on. You obviously have some kind of ace in the hole here," the heiress said.

"I can select the weakest to 'humiliate' you. That allows me to reliably eliminate them. In addition, I'll have one of them bring your weapon, under the guise of 'having them break it in front of you'. Finally, I can set the place of the 'torture'. If I'm lucky, I can set it near the secret exit."

He clenched his left hand. "Once there, we can board a Bullhead and escape. Hopefully, we can lose them in the sky. But if not... well, that's my job."

"So we have to escape in 15 minutes, without triggering the alarms at all, and then somehow lose White Fang Bullheads?" Weiss clarified. "If that doesn't work, then let's assume that we can even get to the Bullheads. How are we going to deal with the other ones?"

Skoll shook your head. "That's my job. Honestly... it's better if I don't tell you about it-"

"I need to know everything, Skoll," the heiress said. "Please?"

A chain of pure white between the two materialized between her wrist and his neck. It was his Semblance, affecting the real world. It represented his temporary oath to her.

His face looked slightly anxious. "I'll place detonated bombs on every Bullhead except for the one I'm commandeering. That'll cripple the White Fang's ability to initiate and make our escape so much easier," he whispered.

She nodded before she realized where the chain between the two connected... like a BSDM porno. Instinctively, she smirked as she tilted his head towards her by pulling on the chain.

"Say woof," Weiss ordered.

The White Fang captain frowned. "What did you say?"

"This is your chance to be cute. Say woof," the heiress said again. "Prove to me that you're absolutely loyal to me."

"Then please choose something less embarrassing," Skoll replied. "I don't see how this is going to help us escape."

She smiled. "Okay. A belly rub then."

The dog Faunus opened his mouth, but the chain around his neck silenced him by tightening. He reluctantly took his coat and shrugged it off his shoulders, before his hands began to slip his shirt off... only for Weiss to slap his abs.

"How'd you like my rub?" the heiress asked, before watching as Skoll breathed in and out at a fast but steady pace. "What happened?"

Skoll took her body towards his, her own against his own as he exhaled more deeply. "Side effect of my Semblance," he moaned before placing his forehead against hers. "I could handle the face slap, but then this..."

His eyes closed tightly as Weiss's sky-blue eyes remained open. Her eyes could only become more and more dilated as the reality of their situation dawned on her...

Her lips were an inch or two away from his.

But she didn't understand what happened. This time, her delicate hands began rubbing his abs, brushing over tense, dense muscle. She had to remind herself to take her hands off of them- until Skoll's hand placed them back on his abs.

The White Fang commander sighed in... bliss? His muscles loosened under her soft hand.

"Thanks for the assist," he said as he opened his honey-brown eyes. "I guess you found it."

"Found what!?" Weiss replied as she glared at him. "You were in pain from a light tap on the abs!"

He nodded. "Like I said, side-effect of my Semblance. As a result of the oath, I am now loyal to you. This means that any punishment from you will hurt more, any reward will help me more, and... and- Okay, I can't say them."

Sky-blue eyes chillingly interrogated him. "Tell me more, or..."

Honey-brown eyes looked back at her. "Any pain you feel, any overwhelmingly negative emotions you feel, I will feel as well. For example, your strained relationship with you father is touchy..."

Weiss bared her white teeth at him until Skoll lifted her onto his lap. She touched foreheads with him, again, as his hands gently touched the sides of her neck. They were warm.

"I'm sorry about that..." he said. "But... well, like this..."

The heiress silenced him with a nuzzle that sent tingles down his body. "You are mine, and at my mercy... aren't you?" she quietly replied. "No matter how much you protest, you have to do what I say... right?"

"No." he said. "This oath means I want to help you. I protest because I want to fulfill my promise to you, even if I'd enjoy it. My oath is to get you back to Winter safely, and I don't think that what you want will help with that. In that sense, that's one of the weaknesses of my Semblance: the strength I get depends on how my actions pertain to my promise. In addition, the oath has to be specific enough so that it cannot be twisted around by either party."

Weiss carefully regarded him with appraising eyes. "And what else?"

Skoll sighed. "Fervor is the best way to put it. I have to believe in the oath as well to gather strength from it."

"But didn't you overpower my sister? If your oath to the White Fang was so weak, how did you beat her so easily?" the younger Schnee asked.

The dog Faunus sighed. "I am loyal to my hope that humans and Faunus can live peacefully together, not to Adam. As long as I have that, I can get power from it. Of course, there's a limit I can handle. For example..."

He gestured towards his forearms. "Feel them. You'll notice something."

The heiress complied. She immediately grasped them tightly before beginning to squeeze them and trying to massage them. "They feel tight. What did you do to yourself?"

Skoll sighed. "Using my Semblance increases all positive aspects of me. Speed. Strength. Intelligence. Perception. Even reaction time. But at the same time, it places stress on my body. Increasing strength in my arms can cause them to break. In fact, as you can tell, that's why my muscles are sore. So my Semblance has to be regulated just to make sure I won't kill myself by using it."

He kneaded out his forearms carefully. "In addition, my Semblance can alter one's frame of mind. In the most extreme cases, I can brainwash someone. At the same time, however, _you_ can do the same to me. In other words..."

"Your Semblance makes you vulnerable to your 'master', has backlash, and makes you more susceptible to mental attacks," Weiss summarised.

Skoll coughed a bit. "It's not just that... There's certain types of agreements where my Semblance comes into play. Contracts. Mutual cooperation. What power I get from any of these depends on the conditions, as well as whether or not I'm the 'superior' or 'inferior' one in the contract."

His honey brown eyes stared into her own sky-blue ones. "If it's fine... can I ask about your Semblance? Unless-"

"It's the same as my sisters. It's hereditary," the heiress quickly said. "I can freeze or burn things, increase speed, dilate time, and create platforms."

He nodded, before sighing. "How much stamina do you have?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not a lot. I get tired after 20 or so Glyphs."

"Do you need Dust for some of your Glyphs?" Skoll said. "I mean... that would explain a lot of your Semblance's uses."

"But your Semblance is so complicated when it doesn't have to." Weiss stated. "Glyphs are Glyphs. They are multi-use, but not necessarily multi-faceted."

The dog Faunus closed his eyes. "If I know what you can do, I might be able to think of a safer plan," he replied. "If your Semblance is truly hereditary and similar to your sister's, we can escape more easily. We can use a velocity Glyph to arrive at least a minute earlier, while using ice Glyphs to delay White Fang members and fire Glyphs to destroy enemy weapon caches."

Weiss blinked. "The way you put it, I could have escaped a long time ago."

Skoll shook his head. "You don't know how to fly a Bullhead off the island, I doubt you can swim-"

"Hey!"

"- you don't have enough stamina to make it to Mistral's mainland, and you're easily recognizable. Not to mention, you're one person. A whole platoon of White Fang members could capture, while you're exhausted and-"

"Okay, I see your point," the heiress replied glumly.

Skoll shook his head. "I have some non-Fang connections that can help us hide in Mistral once we're there. Assuming we make it out together, of course..."

He gripped his hand. Weiss took it, as if reassuring him it would be fine. It looked like he needed it.

"Get some sleep. We'll need it tomorrow to set up the escape."

And the night became a little more oppressive as Skoll left the cage, quietly closing it and locking it behind him.

One hallway. Then the dog Faunus stopped.

The air blurred as Skoll slammed his hand into the head of an unsuspecting White Fang member. He caught the unconscious lamb Faunus and gently dragged her into a bunk.

Quickly, he found a bottle of alcohol.

"Dammit, she overheard..." he muttered as he bent the cap off the beer bottle. It smelled cheap, so he did the same for five other bottles.

Carefully, he spilled the six-pack all over the Fang members and poured a bit into each of their mouths. He needed them to be drunk to ensure Weiss's and his secret were safe-

"What are you doing!?"

* * *

"Blake, I swear I almost had a heart attack," Skoll grumbled as he arranged shards of broken bottles. "What are you doing this late up?"

"I heard 'escape' come out of your mouth," the feline Faunus defended. "I was curious. Is this part of your plan, or...?"

"None of your business," the dog Faunus curtly stated. "I'd like it if you'd get out-"

Blake Belladonna leveled the pistol form of Gambol Shroud at Skoll. "Tell me something- why intoxicate a team of White Fang members then? That's suspicious of you, **Beta Tiger**."

Without any warning, the dog Faunus sucker-punched her with a low right before twisting his left around her right. As he flipped her onto the stone ground, he drew his weapon.

Blake wasn't an idiot. She exchanged herself for a shadow, reappearing in front of Skoll. She slashed downwards with her cleaver-like sheath.

Instead of a horizontal guard, the Fang captain parried to the right, cutting through the shadow in front of him and deflecting the real blade coming from his side.

"Last time I checked, you've always done this. You use clones to deceive and take the hit so you can run and retreat in case it's needed. That's the perfect Semblance for someone who wants to look humanity in the eye and ask for equality," Skoll stated. "So tell me-"

Gambol Shroud came dangerously close to his neck, the katana screeching against his weapon. He held his estoc steady as the cat Faunus applied more pressure.

"-how exactly are you ensuring world peace here?"

Swiftly, Skoll stepped towards Blake's left side and let his left leg remain behind. He swept his leg to kick out the feline beauty's balance from under her.

Pistol fire burst out, retorting. He sidestepped in a flash, advancing diagonally behind him while turning into a wide slash. Without so much as a step, he cut through a shadow before holding up his sheath behind him.

As he expected, Blake cut downwards with her katana and her cleaver-like sheath. The force made him bend his knees a bit- she had gotten stronger than the last time he'd fought her- but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"You support a Faunus who wants to exterminate all humans, while you want true equality."

His right elbow shot backwards and pushed Blake away before he turned the right- only to lunge forwards with the sheath rather than slash with his estoc.

 _That should be the last shadow._

Yet again, Blake became a shadow, this time taking the initiative to attack. Her cleaver sheath blocked his estoc, while her katana thrust forwards to complete the kill.

Skoll simply kneed Blake's jaw, sending her reeling backwards.

"What do you want? Do you want to be abused like this, again and again? Humanity's abuse is enough. So why tolerate Adam's?"

The dog Faunus kept a calm, almost serene voice. He had to so he wouldn't wake up other Fang members and scar them for life. He had to so his anger at the hypocrisy in front of him wouldn't explode. After all...

He'd been stressed out for the past few days trying to plan an escape. All the work that he put into busting Weiss Schnee out of here- well, he didn't want any of it wasted. Even if Belladona was in his way.

Two hands grasped two wrists and twisted them. Cleaver and katana fell to the stone ground with a clang.

It was now just Skoll and Blake. He slammed her into a wall, shaking it behind her before holding her arms above her head.

Harsh, almost mechanical honey-brown met amber eyes.

"What do you want?" Skoll asked.

Blake shook her head. "You know. You've always known."

"Know? I 'knew' Adam was a logical person, but now... that's not Adam anymore," the dog Faunus retorted. "He acts as if he has a personal vendetta against the world."

The cat Faunus sighed. "We all do, Skoll. My family was exiled to Menagerie. Adam's family was killed in the war. And your family left you for dead."

A laugh of bitterness. "Wrong. _I_ left myself for dead. _I_ decided I wanted something different. Because unlike you, I know what's a good cause. And all of this..."

He released her. "All of this means a war. Do you want war or peace, Blake? Because let me tell you something- this vendetta isn't worth it in the end. Revenge demands everything. Your life. Your soul. Your time. In the end, there's only a corpse. What do _you_ want?"

"I want-" Blake began.

"You want Adam to see the light. To stop this madness. Am I wrong?" Skoll asked.

She froze. The dog Faunus promptly sighed.

"Do you think Adam understands what he's doing here?" Skoll said. "No, nevermind, he clearly does. But his ideology..."

Blake slid down the wall and sat on the floor. "I think... ever since he read that book..."

"That's not that important yet," Skoll stated. "At this point, there's no way we could convince him that he's wrong. Humanity has already acknowledged the Faunus through his violent methods. But he knows that staying like this will blow up in his face- a kingdom or two will wipe the White Fang out, and Faunus-human relations will go down the drain. So he'll press the advantage. He'll make sure his work isn't wasted by getting rid of all of his enemies. And unfortunately, his enemies are humans."

"Thank you for the depressing analysis of my boyfriend," the cat Faunus dryly commented. "Shouldn't you apologize?"

Skoll shrugged. "It's my job to be honest. That said, I don't think it's impossible to change Adam's mind. But you're not going to like it at all. How does a defection sound?"


	6. Teaser

**Teaser**

* * *

" _Wake up. In 2-3 days, Weiss will be at Appia Port. Meet by the docks then."_

Winter rubbed her forehead as she stared at the new message on her Scroll. There was no trackable ID on the mail.

It looked like Skoll was trying to keep his promise. When she read the first part, she felt relief.

Appia Port, in Vale. It wasn't a bad choice.

It was the second part that then left her with a headache.

" _In exchange for the location of some White Fang bases and recruitment areas, I request a pardon for my crimes."_

While the information would aid in their fight against the Faunus terrorists, the pardon was beyond her authority to give.

At the same time, she knew even trying to get him clemency through an application would get her court-martialed faster than she could say "Skoll".

That left the only person she could really ask: General Ironwood.


End file.
